Ban on SIMI to continue: SC

Ban on SIMI to continue: SC The Supreme Court on Monday extended its interim order putting a six-week stay on the Special Tribunal's decision to lift the ban on SIMI, a Bench headed by Chief Justice K G Balakrishnan posted the matter for further hearing on 24th September. The Centre had challenged the decision of the Special Tribunal headed by Justice Geeta Mittal to lift the ban on SIMI. The UPA government told the apex court that SIMI, the fundamentalist outfit, is a threat to "peace, integrity and secular fabric of India". Pressing for an absolute ban on SIMI, which has been found to be increasingly involved in terrorist attacks, the Centre had told the Supreme Court that SIMI activists are not just busy spreading the message of "jihad", but have also "extended full support to extremists and terrorists in Jammu and Kashmir and Punjab and have been involved in various militant and disruptive activities in Maharashtra, Kerala, Uttar Pradesh and Tamil Nadu". In its hard-hitting affidavit designed to overcome the setback it suffered on 6th August when the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Tribunal had turned down its plea to continue the ban on SIMI, the Centre said that allowing free run to the organization would seriously compromise national security. The tribunal had lifted the ban on the jihadi organization on the ground that the Centre had failed to provide it with fresh evidence to back up its case. The two Yadav chieftains and Paswan swiftly latched on to this, to hand out certificates of innocence to SIMI. Govt lists 349 cases in SC against SIMI In its hard-hitting affidavit, the UPA government had told the SC that SIMI had also "extended full support to extremists and terrorists in J&K and Punjab and have been involved in various militant and disruptive activities in Maharashtra, Kerala, UP and TN". The Centre's 42-page affidavit in the top court marked a strong refutation of the "no fresh evidence" argument cited by the tribunal and the three leaders. Displaying a new anxiety to give as much evidence as possible before the apex court, the Centre gave a list of 349 cases that were filed against SIMI prior to February 2006 as well another 60-odd which were slapped later and may qualify to be treated as "fresh evidence". While the 6th August relief for SIMI had been immediately challenged by the Centre before the apex court, which ordered a freeze on the tribunal's order, the intervening period has seen the Gujarat police, in coordination with police of various states as well as the Intelligence Bureau unearthing the involvement of the fundamentalist organization in the terror attack on Ahmedabad. That is not all. Investigation into the Ahmedabad blasts have provided strong evidence that SIMI and its hardline version, Indian Mujahideen, was also involved in blasts across the country - serial explosions in Mumbai suburban trains, as well as those in Jaipur and in the courts in UP towns of Lucknow, Varanasi and Faizabad. The involvement of SIMI is suspected also in the bomb attacks on Hyderabad and explosions in the country's tech capital, Bangalore.

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